Posted on 03/30/2012 4:44:59 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
AS a black man who has been mugged at gunpoint by a black teenager late at night, I am not naive: I know firsthand the awkward conundrums surrounding race, fear and crime. Trayvon Martin's killing at the hands of George Zimmerman baffles this nation. While the youth's supporters declare in solidarity "We are all Trayvon," the question is raised, to what extent is the United States also all George Zimmerman?
Under assault, I didn't dream of harming my teenage assailant, let alone taking his life.
Zimmerman reacted very differently, taking out his handgun and shooting the youth in cold blood.
What gives?
Welcome to gate-minded America.
From 2007 to 2009, I traveled 27,000 miles, living in predominantly white gated communities across this country to research a book. I threw myself into these communities with gusto - no Howard Johnson or Motel 6 for me. I borrowed or rented residents' homes. From the red-rock canyons of southern Utah to the Waffle-House-pocked exurbs of north Georgia, I lived in gated communities as a black man, with a youthful style and face, to interview and observe residents.
The perverse, pervasive real-estate speak I heard in these communities champions a bunker mentality. Residents often expressed a fear of crime that was exaggerated beyond the actual criminal threat, as documented by their police department's statistics. Since you can say "gated community" only so many times, developers hatched an array of Orwellian euphemisms to appease residents' anxieties: "master-planned community," "landscaped resort community," "secluded intimate neighborhood." No matter the label, the product is the same: self-contained, conservative and overzealous in its demands for "safety." Gated communities churn a vicious cycle by attracting like-minded residents who seek shelter from outsiders and whose physical seclusion then worsens paranoid groupthink against outsiders. These bunker communities remind me of those Matryoshka wooden dolls. A similar-object-within-a-similar-object serves as shelter; from community to subdivision to house, each unit relies on staggered forms of security and comfort, including town authorities, zoning practices, private security systems and personal firearms.
Residents' palpable satisfaction with their communities' virtue and their evident readiness to trumpet alarm at any given "threat" create a peculiar atmosphere - an unholy alliance of smugness and insecurity. In this us-versus-them mental landscape, them refers to new immigrants, blacks, young people, renters, non-property-owners and people perceived to be poor.
Zimmerman's gated community, a 260-unit housing complex, sits in a racially mixed suburb of Orlando, Fla. Mr. Martin's "suspicious" profile amounted to more than his black skin. He was profiled as young, loitering, non-property-owning and poor. Based on their actions, police officers clearly assumed Zimmerman was the private property owner and Martin the dangerous interloper. After all, why did the police treat Martin like a criminal, instead of Zimmerman, his assailant? Why was the black corpse tested for drugs and alcohol, but the living perpetrator wasn't?
Across the United States, more than 10 million housing units are in gated communities, where access is "secured with walls or fences," according to 2009 Census Bureau data. Roughly 10 percent of the occupied homes in this country are in gated communities, though that figure is misleadingly low because it doesn't include temporarily vacant homes or second homes. Between 2001 and 2009, the United States saw a 53 percent growth in occupied housing units nestled in gated communities.
Another related trend contributed to this shooting: our increasingly privatized criminal justice system. The United States is becoming even more enamored with private ownership and decision making around policing, prisons and probation. Private companies champion private "security" services, alongside the private building and managing of prisons.
"Stand Your Ground" or "Shoot First" laws like Florida's expand the so-called castle doctrine, which permits the use of deadly force for self-defense in one's home, as long as the homeowner can prove deadly force was reasonable. Thirty-two states now permit expanded rights to self-defense.
In essence, laws nationwide sanction reckless vigilantism in the form of self-defense claims. A bunker mentality is codified by law.
Those reducing this tragedy to racism miss a more accurate and painful picture. Why is a child dead? The rise of "secure," gated communities, private cops, private roads, private parks, private schools, private playgrounds - private, private, private - exacerbates biased treatment against the young, the colored and the presumably poor.
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Rich Benjamin is the author of "Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America" and a senior fellow at Demos, a nonpartisan research center.
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Then it's simple: No trespassing! Stay the Hell out. |
When are we gonna see the 7-11 video of trevon purchasing the skittles with his hoodie?
He will NOT be voting for gated community Willard...
Eventhough Willard owns no personal firearms...
I think cap locks are your friend. Maybe Z should find whorealdoes buddy Jose Baez to step up. No, because Baez is a liberal homo.
This author has not spent time recently in Florida where many gated communities are multi-ethnic. Many recent immigrants from Central and South America prefer to live in gated communities.
This author has not spent time recently in Florida where many gated communities are multi-ethnic. Many recent immigrants from Central and South America prefer to live in gated communities.
To bea fair, people can’t have guests? Appreciate your artistry though..
Why is a child dead?
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Because a bullet in the chest can cause ya to stop breathing ???
Mr. Zimmerman’s gated community was only 47% white, it’s been reported, IIRC.
The rise of “secure,” gated communities, private cops, private roads, private parks, private schools, private playgrounds - private, private, private - exacerbates biased treatment against the young, the colored and the presumably poor.
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Yeah so I guess ya wont be planning to vote fot that rich guy in the private private private gated community White House ???
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No guests! Socialize at the outlet mall.. or a bus stop. (TY) |
Trayvon’s dad lived there.
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No he didnt
It was the girlfriend of Dad who lived there...
Dad lived elsewhere and so did Mom...
I thought the gun walked up to Trayvon and killed him.
Widespread protection of the criminal class and instant victimization of the productive class.
Not so much. Now you are telling people where to congregate? #fail
When one who is under physical attack shoots the assailant it is not in any way "in cold blood."
These were alts/townhomes with a fence. Screw “gated communities”. I doubt Sanford has one.
Although I'd have to dispute the idea that Trayvon "doubled back" after reaching Brandi's apartment the picture here certainly shows that Trayvon didn't cold-cock Zimmerman at the truck which is a block away on a different street! That act had to have taken place as Zimmerman was walking (map's) South toward Brandi's apartment rather than (map's) East toward what is described in that drawing as "The back gate" (which is mentioned in passing only by Zimmerman in one of his 911 calls ~ it's identified as a place where Martin might be headed, not that he nor Martin actually went there.)
The fact that "It was a dark and stormy night" probably explains what Zimmerman sees as erratic behavior on Martin's part as he makes his way through the rain trying to avoid getting totally drenched. Hoodies aren't that good eh ~ at least mine isn't, yo!
The rain also explains why Zimmerman's back was wet ~ he'd been wet with or without a trip to the lawn in a fight.
The latest factoid from Nancy Grace's show is this took about 5 minutes from the time George saw Trayvon until the cops were present overlooking Trayvon's dead body.
I posted the ref to the story where somebody visited that store. No doubt the security system had a picture of Trayvon ~ and your guess is as good as my own that the video will be coming out eventually.
Only noodle brained Communists hate private property.
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